South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Knost delays solar-energy project recommendation to May 17

Despite receiving four responses to a request for proposals for a solar project, Superintendent Eric Knost will wait until Thursday, May 17, to recommend a company for Board of Education approval.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the Administration Building, 3120 Lemay Ferry Road.

For the the project, three district buildings — Hagemann Elementary, Bernard Middle and Oakville Senior — would have solar panels installed on their roofs as part of a lease agreement. Knost told the board last week the agreement would result in no out-of-pocket cost to the district.

Of the responses, Knost told the board at its May 10 meeting the company StraightUp Solar, was “an extreme frontrunner.”

StraightUp Solar, based in St. Louis, gave options “down to the kind of equipment the (the district) could utilize,” Knost told the Call.

The three other companies the district received a response from were Brightergy, Microgrid and Syndicated Solar.

Knost said to capture savings from an Ameren Missouri rebate, the district is “down to the wire,” but not receiving the rebate will not cancel the project.

“It behooves the company providing the lease because they’re the ones capturing the Ameren rebate, not us,” Knost said.

The Ameren Missouri rebate is available until it runs out, according Knost, though it is “almost guaranteed to run out in June.”

Knost also expects to bring a revised auditorium timeline and budget to the board at its May 17 meeting. The last piece the district is waiting on is the soil report, and Knost told the board there is no reason to believe there will be any problems.

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